Relief for Indian students in US! Trump admin to temporarily restore legal status of foreign students after lawsuit

The Trump administration on Friday said it would temporarily restore the legal status of hundreds of foreign students in the United States, even as it develops a policy that would allow termination of their status in the future. The announcement came during a court hearing in Boston, where a federal judge is presiding over a lawsuit filed by international students.

The students argue that their legal status was cancelled under President Donald Trump’s aggressive immigration policies. Many lost status after their information was deleted from SEVIS — the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System — a government database that tracks the academic and legal compliance of over 1.1 million foreign students.

Once a student’s SEVIS record is removed, they become vulnerable to deportation. According to the American Immigration Lawyers Association, over 4,700 students have had their SEVIS records deleted since Trump took office.

While the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) maintains that students lose their status if they commit crimes, many students who sued the government said their records were erased unfairly — some for charges that were later dismissed, or for minor infractions not warranting such action.

One of the affected students, Carrie Zheng of Boston University, secured a temporary restraining order against deportation. Judge F. Dennis Saylor halted government action against Zheng and over 200 other students, reinstating their SEVIS records pending further policy updates.

In court, ICE said it is "developing a policy that will provide a framework for SEVIS record terminations." The agency clarified it would maintain or reinstate students’ records for now but reserved the right to terminate records if students engage in activities that justify deportation.

Lawyers for Zheng declined to comment on the hearing. Meanwhile, temporary protections remain in place as the case continues.